Let the parts fly!
Apparently, the frame work is going well. There were quite a few bends on the bottom of the frame the needed to be straightened. As it turns out, I don't know how to jack up my truck properly. Also, some new holes needed to be located and drilled for front shock braces. The last thing that needed to be done before blast and paint was the c-notch. I had to take the rear end housing, new trailing arm crossmember and trailing arms to help with the process.
I was fortunate enough in last April to buy a set of the only NOS trailing arms that I have ever seen from board member gcburdic. The cool thing about them , besides being NOS, is that they are for a 3/4 ton. They fit exactly the same as 1/2 ton, but they are reinforced on top and bottom. These should stand up to any torque that I can supply! Before I could take them, I needed to replace to bushings. Even though they were original and had never been used, the rubber was dry rotted.
I research on the board here how guys are replacing these. There were a few different methods, and this was what I did...
I drilled as much rubber out as I could from around the bushings. Then I used a socket and hammer to push the sleeve out. When the sleeve came out, the rubber came with it.
Next, I used a reciprocating saw the cut through the bushing. I had to be super careful not to get into the trailing arm itself.
Once I cut through most of the bushing, I took a punch and hammer and caved the bushing in on itself. Once it was curled up pretty good, I used a socket and hammer to tap the entire bushing out of the truck arm. Super easy removal.
During my many years of research on building one of these trucks, I came across the debate of rubber versus polyurethane bushings for our trucks. There are pros and cons for each, but for me, I don't think you can do better than original. And by original, I mean NOS. I was able to locate several pairs of these guys, so I have some spares too if I ever need them.
I greased up the new bushings. Using a hammer and socket, I was able to carefully drive the bushings into place.
The new trailing arm crossmember is a CPP 6372LDL-B. This is for trucks lowered 5" or more. It comes powder coated black. It has a larger driveshaft hoop and allows a 3 inch exhaust to pass through.
Also sent these, CPP CP39029 2" angled lowering blocks . These will help get me a 7" drop in the rear while giving me 4° of pinion angle back.
